AL TOUT Recap

Friday night was AL Tout Draft. It was a fun exhausting day. You may not know this but this years AL Tout is the subject of a new documentary based on Sam Walker’s book titled Fantasyland. A regular joe named Jed Latkin was picked as the "lead" and he met with us on camera before the draft and I sat next to him during. He is good people and I like him already. We hung out all night after the draft. The whole league came to Foley’s for pints and dinner after the draft including Cory and Alex. After that Jed and I along with some others headed downtown to make me look and feel not so good the next day. Jed is not a shy guy but he by no means a loud mouth (that’s Berry’s title ;-). I don’t know how well he will do but nobody does since the draft is usually full of balance and a little luck goes a long way. Like when I missed out on Granderson and was bummed, but he goes on DL next day.

Below is a full breakdown of my draft. I will list my targeted player with MLB.com value, what he actually went for in Tout and who I got at that position with dollar vale and comment. I look forward to reading your comments.

C: Target: Navarro $5Went For: $6I Got: Jeff Mathis for $1Comment: I stopped at 5 for Navarro because I didn’t feel need to go past my budget if $6 total for two catchers. I used the plus $4 elsewhere.

C:Target: Redmond $1Went For: $3I Got: Curtis Thigpen for $1Comment: He’ll be back up. I like this buy.

1B:Target: Gordon $20Went For: $21I Got: Brad Wilkerson for $8Comment: I stopped at 20 for Gordon because I didn’t want to overspend and get in a war that my ego made me win. I also thought I’d still get Konerko but he went for $25 This is my biggest regret of draft the way I handled 1B. Silver linings. Wilk is a sleeper this year who plays OF and 1B and he will play everyday and McLaren loves him and I could have spent $11 on Millar who I got into a bidding war with Ron Shandler over because he was in same boat as me. We’ll see.

2B:Target: Asdrubal Cabrera $7Went For: $13I Got: Alexi Casilla for $3Comment: I threw him out for a buck and am glad I got him. I think he will work his way to the big club and steal me some bags. I never spend high on MI in AL Only auction leagues. Prefer to get cheap speed with upside.

SS:Target: Adam Everett $2Went For: $2I Got: Adam Everett for $2Comment: If he can give me 2005 counting stats (11 HR and 21 SB) I’ll be giddy. Average is a concern but I like his change of scenery upside.

3B:Target: A-Rod $48Went For: $45I Got: A-Rod for $45Comment: After winning Alex fairly easily Jeff Erickson of rotowire.com claimed nobody puts baby in the corner and nobody denies Siano A-Rod. I was willing to go higher but glad I didn’t have to. The guys try to get in my head that I like Yankees but it doesn’t bother me because they have good players plain and simple.

CO: Target: Fields $10Went For: $10I Got: Aki Iwamura for $17Comment: Missing out on Fields may have been a blessing. Aki went for $7 more but should run and will have 2B eligibility in a week plus so I really liked this audible.

OF: Target: Markakis $24Went For: $29I Got: Bobby Abreu for $29Comment: Abreu went a little high but to be honest with his steadiness this could be a wash between him and Markakis in 08′. Keeper league would have been different.

OF: Target: Matsui $21Went For: $20I Got: Matsui for $20Comment: Last year was a disaster for my OF in Tout. I had to make sure it didn’t happen again. If anything it was at the expense of Catcher and 1B which is half fine being that my MI is cheap on purpose.

OF: Target: Melky Cabrera $4Went For: $15I Got: Coco Crisp for $14Comment: This was a late game pickup and I had some money. I love this pickup if he gets traded since we keep the stats to the other league. If the prices surprise you this is typical, but I learned that the hard way last year.

OF: Target: Jerry Owens $3Went For: $14I Got: Jonny Gomes for $10Comment: See a trend for speed in the OF. No way I spend that much on Owens, too risky this year. Gomes had a good counting stat second half last year. Hope he builds on it to make this a great buy.

OF: Target: Dollar OF $1Went For: $1I Got: Jason Botts for $1Comment: For a buck I love this scrub pickup. My average is hurting but I can mash.

UT: Target: Swisher $21Went For: $25I Got: Jim Thome for $16Comment: Wish I had Swish at 1B and Thome here so really happy with the price for Thome. Like Abreu he is steady.

P:Target: Bedard $28Went For: $33I Got: Sabathia for $31Comment: $30 on pitching is not really my style but with Lackey, Kazmir and Beckett hurt and Johan in NL this was a move I had to make and was comfortable with. I had Escobar and Carmona last year but that was a ton of luck so I wanted to come at the league with some legit arms which leads to…

P:Target: Verlander $26Went For: $29I Got: Dice-K for $23Comment: Love it love it love it! Spent $3 over what I wanted on my aces but got two high K, high wins guys.

P:Target: Ian Kennedy $4Went For: $9I Got: Daniel Cabrera for $3Comment: More K’s for Mikey but huge risk here. Sam Walker couldn’t believe nobody went to $4 and I was very pleased with this. If this is the year of Cabrera then I can smoke pitching this year.

P:Target: Ervin Santana $3Went For: $7I Got: Gavin Floyd for $4Comment: I love big Erv but I love Floyd better for $3 less. This kid has potential and is in a good situation. Hoping like Cabrera this is his maturation year.

P:Target: Dollar Starter $1Went For: $1I Got: Luke Hochevar for $1Comment: He got sent down 48 hours after the draft, but that’s fine. He’ll be back up and hopefully can contribute.

P:Target: K-Rod $29Went For: $23I Got: Joe Nathan for a $27. Comment: Nathan got tossed out before K-Rod ($23) and Papelbon ($26) and after Putz ($26). Not sure how Nathan went the highest and it bothered me but at least I got one of the big 4. This is one thing about Tout and auctions in general that is maddening. Sometimes things just go wacky.

After the auction is over we do a 6 round reserve snake draft. I had pick #7.Round 1: David Price – Shocked and elated he fell to me.Round 2: Kenny Lofton – Heard a few I should have done that groansRound 3: Adam Miller – If Miller and Price get called up I’ll have depth to deal from I hope.Round 4: Freddy Guzman – Could be first break of 08 since he could fill in for Granderson.Round 5: Bob McCrory – sleeper for saves in Baltimore.Round 6: Taylor Teagarden – If Laird gets traded or hurt and Salty isn’t ready maybe this other prospect is.

Closing thoughts:I spoke to Rick Wilton the next morning at the NL and Mixed drafts and I agree with his assessment that no team stands out which is what sets Tout apart from your normal 12 guys in a room draft. The luck of health, breaks and good use of FAAB are key to winning this thing. Trades are scarce because it’s a non keeper so both sides have to be 100% comfortable with the players they get back so there is a bunch of scouring the wires and pouncing.

i wondered about the Nathan price when i saw the draft results – I bet Siano is glad that he signed an extension with the Twins and isn’t going to get traded to the NL! should be fun to follow the Touts! I love dice-k for $23. Crisp for $14 seems high, but i guess the OF prices are just so high….

couple of things. We keep the stats if a player goes to NL which is one reason I went to $14 for Crisp. I don’t agree that I overpaid for Gomes. Josh Fields went for $10 and he’s in the minors. Nathan is a different story I just got “hosed” I guess. Weird stuff. My lack of patience burned me. If Nathan got traded to NL he surely is still a closer so wasn’t worried about that, contract just took the guessing out of it……Siano

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